Sunday, August 19, 2012

Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 Book Review

Annotation:
This
macabre collection of short stories, poems and illustrations ranges from the
musings of corpses to the pitfalls of having a pet tarantula.

Personal
thoughts: I don’t often read collections of short stories and poems, but
when I heard about this one (and saw the cover) I decided to give it a try. I
have to admit that, in general, I am really not a fan of poetry/lyrical writing
in book form, but I actually enjoyed this collection. It is definitely creepy
and more than a little gross, but I thought many of the chapters were really
clever. I hope that Nora Thompson decides to publish a second volume, or
perhaps write an entire novel in the same vein as this book, because I think
she has a lot of originality to bring to the genre.

Plot
summary: This macabre collection of short stories, poems and illustrations
ranges from the musings of corpses to the pitfalls of having a pet tarantula.
Chapters run the gamut of literary styles including straight narrative style,
disjointed poetry, and comic strip.

Review: Nora Thompson,
the illustrator behind the-rots.com, creates her first book of flash fiction
with Twisted Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol.
1. The collection is a very quick read, easy to finish in one sitting, with
chapters ranging in length from one to several pages. While the entire book is,
in a word, strange, the author does a good job of creating something creepy
and, of course, twisted that is appropriate for the young adult audience.
Readers who are familiar with the Scary
Stories series or the poetry of Shel Silverstein or Jack Prelutsky will find
this collection comes across as a combination of the two. Some of the most
enjoyable chapters in the book are “Hairy Eyeballs,” where the narrator must
contend with a bristly hair inexplicably growing from the back of his throat, “Headache,”
where it feels like something is trying to claw its way out of the narrator’s skull
(and it just might be), and “Chula,” a story that will make anyone think twice
about keeping a pet tarantula. Overall, any teen reader who is okay with the
grossout/twisted nature of the book will find something that they enjoy in Nora
Thompson’s collection. Funny, clever, and unique, the world of young adult
literature has something to look forward to in Nora Thompson’s creations.

Genre: Short Stories/Poetry/Horror

Reading
level: Grade 7+

Similar
titles: Scary
Stories series by Alvin Schwartz, Weenies
series by David Lubar.

Themes: Black comedy, macabre, death, irony, humor.

Awards/Reviews:
Positive reviews from Publishers Weekly and Kirkus.

Series
Information: N/A

Discussion
questions:

-
What was your favorite chapter in this
collection? Why?

-
How did the author’s use of illustrations add
to the book? Do you like her artistic style?

-
Did you find any of the chapters in the
collection funny? Creepy? Gross?

-Describe the different writing styles Nora
Thompson used in the book. Which do you like the best? The least? Why?

3 comments:

Hi!I just came across your site and it is really lovely! I happily followed you and will enjoy reading your updates. You can find me over at Rainy Day Reads, www.rainydayreads.com It would be great if you could stop by and I would love to have a fellow book lover as a new follower.Christine xRainy Day Readswww.rainydayreads.com

Hey Hylary! Thanks for the very thoughtful review of my book! I would love to send your library a copy, if that's possible. Do they accept donor copies? Could you email me a mailing address, contact info, etc.? I can be reached at: info@hairyeyeballspress.com. Thanks again for taking the time!

Pages

About Me

Welcome to my blog! I'm a librarian who loves to read...unusual, right? This blog contains my reviews and thoughts about the books I read, and other information for tweens, teens, parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else who loves books. Enjoy!